Former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna warned that human rights in India are facing a “deep crisis” due to the massive backlog of over five crore pending cases. Speaking at a national convention, he emphasized that delayed justice amounts to a denial of justice. He also expressed concerns over threats to judicial independence and freedom of expression. His remarks highlight growing challenges in India’s legal and judicial system.
New Delhi: The issue of human rights in the country is in a “deep crisis,” with over five crore cases pending in the Supreme Court, high courts, and lower courts, according to lower courts, according to former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna, who spoke at a national convention on democratic rights and secularism organized by the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS) on Sunday.
Justice Srikrishna expressed “grave concern” regarding the violations of human rights and principles of secularism, stating,
“Delay in justice is denial of justice.”
He emphasized that the right to dissent and protest is fundamental to democracy.
He highlighted that in a democratic society, all citizens should be treated equally, the rule of law must prevail, and secularism should encompass tolerance of diverse religious beliefs.
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He remarked,
“But all these cardinal values are under siege in India now,”
The former judge pointed out that the independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression have been significantly threatened in the country over the past decade.
He added,
“The civil society has to take up the cudgels to fight all these onslaughts on hard-won rights of people,”
Former Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik also addressed the convention, noting the troubling rise in custodial deaths, fake encounters, and torture in prisons.
He stated,
“The institutions responsible for the protection of democratic rights are violating them the most. There has been a steep rise in custodial deaths, fake encounters and jail torture.”
He lamented the growing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and the increasing division within society, saying,
“I felt it is now or never for me to come out.”
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who also spoke at the event, criticized the current state of fundamental rights in India, describing it as a “rampant form of bulldozing.”
He remarked,
“Constitutional institutions are destroyed and draconian laws clamped.”
Bhushan accused the Election Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of becoming mere extensions of the ruling regime, stating,
“They have stopped auditing the funding of the BJP by misusing powers but they audit the opposition parties’ accounts. Those who protest against the government are imprisoned and languishing in jail without a trial for years together. People must shed their fears and come out against draconian rules.”
The convention highlighted that marginalized groups such as tribals, Dalits, women, children, and others face severe exploitation and human rights violations. According to a press note from the CPDRS, India ranked 109th out of 165 countries in the UN Human Freedom Index 2023, with a 9 percent decline in its overall score from 2015 to 2023.
The statistics are alarming: in 2021 alone, 31,677 cases of rape were reported, and in 2022, approximately 4.45 lakh crimes against women were documented.
Custodial violence remains pervasive, with the National Human Rights Commission recording 147 deaths in police custody, 1,882 deaths in judicial custody, and 119 extrajudicial killings within just the first nine months of 2022. Shockingly, 77 percent of India’s 5.5 lakh prison inmates continue to remain incarcerated despite having been granted bail.
The convention noted that repressive laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA), and Public Security Act (PSA), along with the misuse of investigating agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), have created an atmosphere of fear among the populace.
It stated,
“In Manipur, 175 people were killed and over 60,000 displaced,”
The convention passed a primary resolution and another concerning Palestine, pledging to engage intellectuals and the general public in building a robust human rights movement.
The CPDRS, founded by the late Justice V R Krishna Iyer, late journalist Kuldeep Nayar, and others, is dedicated to upholding not only democratic rights but also secularism, as noted in the press release.